More Xooglers

"After a life-changing four and a half years of working with the most talented group of people I have ever met, I've decided to take the plunge and do it all over again, working for a very small start-up. Today is my last day at the Big G," explains Kevin Fox, who designed the user interface for Gmail, Google Calendar and redesigned Google Reader. "Google is the first place I've ever worked where I feel that I'm part of the company as opposed to working for the company."

In December, Nathan Stoll left Google, after working as a product manager for Google News. "Google has been like a family, one of the most significant shaping influences in my life. (...) I'm grateful for the fortuitous opportunities I was gifted with during the past five years, the phenomenal people I've had a chance to work with, and the knowledge and experience I have gained that I'll carry through my career and life. (...) I've been comforted by the realization that Google benefits by my departure to tackle new endeavors. Great companies like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble, and GE all consistently turn out leaders in their fields; their employee departures complement the mother ship by spreading the culture and working ethos. Google has many more fine minds joining than it has leaving, and is training them to be technology-focused leaders with a passion for building great consumer focused services."

It's interesting to see more and more people leaving Google to build a start-up, to join Facebook or to other interesting things. The same Google that was named last year "the best place to work for" by the Fortune Magazine. Maybe Google has been a great school for many of them and they want to start anew, to prove they can still achieve great things in other contexts, without the pressure and the unfair advantage of working for Google.

Related search: "* * leaves Google".

{ via Search Engine Land}